Foreign businesses in the country are urging for the immediate passage of the Konektadong Pinoy Bill, formerly known as the Open Access in Data Transmission Act to expand internet access in the country.

In a statement, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) said that the bill was recently identified by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri as among the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) priority measures. It is currently pending at committee level that the Senate is on track to approve before Congress adjourns sine die. 

“We call for swift passage of the Konektadong Pinoy (Open Access) bill to bridge these critical gaps in internet infrastructure and help ensure that families have the internet they need for work, school, and more,” said the JFC.

In a letter sent to the Senate, the JFC cited a recent World Bank study, which showed that only about 33 percent of Filipino households have access to fixed internet. 

Prohibitive costs and lack of internet infrastructure contribute to the prevailing digital divide. In addition, the study added that the Philippines also lags behind its middle-income peers in ASEAN in internet access, speed, and affordability for mobile and fixed services. 

“We call for swift passage of the Konektadong Pinoy (Open Access) bill to bridge these critical gaps in internet infrastructure and help ensure that families have the internet they need for work, school, and more,” said JFC, which is composed of various foreign business groups in the country, including the American, European, German, Australia-New Zealand, Japanese, Korean chambers and PAMURI. Together, they represent over 3,000 members engaged in $100-billion worth of trade between Philippines and their respective countries and over $30 billion worth of investments in the Philippines. 

"Passage of this bill will reduce costs and expand access to high-quality internet services by lowering barriers to entry in the data transmission sector and encouraging more competition and investment in data transmission, especially in underserved areas throughout the Philippines. It will accelerate the growing trend towards digital transformation in the Philippines,” the group added.

Since the 17th Congress, JFC said it has supported key reforms in the bill, such as the removal of the legislative franchise requirement for data transmission industry participants and adoption of a policy framework that promotes infrastructure sharing.